It's Not Safe, Out There
by AccioTintin
Summary: "You know there's nowhere to hide, no way out alive, I'll eat your heart. I'm a monster." -I'm A Monster, Of Mice & Men. Penny thinks her friends boyfriend has set up notes in the forest. When she finds out her friends has nothing to do with it, what happens?


I jumped the fence, and my sneakers landed with a somewhat squelching sound on the muddy ground. My torch's batteries were running on low, and it had turned itself off. I banged it against my hand and tried to turn it on again. It flickered on, but it was quite dim. _Why did I let them convince me to do this? _My thoughts screamed.

It had been Toni's idea of course. She was so enthusiastic, damn her.

_"Come on, Penny, it's not a big deal. Derek just put lots of notes up around the forest by the field, you know, west of town? Just head out there tonight, and have a look around. It's totally safe, don't worry."_

I shone my torch around me, on the lookout for any of those notes that Derek had apparently hung around the place. The forest was beyond creepy. The trees were tall, and their leaves pretty much kept out any light from the moon and stars above. It was cold- Freezing cold.

_I walked down the hall and turned into my bedroom. Looking around, I tried to find that old torch I never used. I spotted it in a corner, with some old books from last year. I smiled triumphantly, and then placed it in my bag, along with my phone, and a thin coat in case it got cold. It seemed warm enough, so I figured I might not need a thicker one. I took a final look around my room in, lest I spot something else I might need, and then left the house for the forest west of town._

Oh how I was regretting that choice. The wind tore through the thin coat I had on, and I was shivering. I crossed my arms and sighed, making my way down a track through the forest. I hadn't spared a thought of who had made the tracks. All I could hear was the sloppy sound of my sneakers on the muddy earth and the wind rustling through the trees.

As I walked down the path, my torch flickered out. I stopped, and sighed, smashing the torch against my hand again. It filled the path ahead of me with light, and I saw a large tree, that looked _very _out of place. It was dead, compared to the other trees that were covered in leaves. It sent shivers down my spine. I crept up to it, curious, naturally. It was then that spotted, stuck to the side of the tree's huge trunk, there was a note.

I smiled as I approached it, thinking, _This isn't so hard. It's just a bit chilly, that's all_. I reached the note, and then I plucked it from the tree. I couldn't, however, spot how it was stuck there. There was no pins, no tacks, no tape, nothing. It seemed to just…b e there. I could smell it, too. It smelt odd, like cooked meat, a slight mixture of burnt hair and something like rubber.

"Always watches. No eyes." I read aloud, then suddenly, I felt different. My heart sped up and I felt the wind get a little more forceful. I folded up the paper and placed it in my bag, looking around. It had gotten even colder, but I had spotted a truck parked a while away, and was curious.

I headed over to the red truck, which had seemed to be abandoned. The lights inside were on, but the doors were closed and the engine not running Which meant the car had only _just _been abandoned. I looked around it, and was quite surprised to spot a second note on the boot. I leaned in close to observe it as I pulled it away from the car, checking to see what was holding it in place. Again, nothing was there. It was just stuck there with an invisible force, as though it had been placed there by static. This one read, _No, no, no, no, no, no, no._ Again, the wind picked up, as did my heart rate. The whole place was starting to give me the creeps.

_The scariest place Penny had ever been, was a cave by the beach in town with her two closest friends, Toni Flynn and Billie Huffman, as well as Toni's not-so-charming boyfriend, Derek Monroe. It was around midnight, and they were camping on the beach for the night. They had been fishing, swimming and rock pooling, and now, in the middle of the night, they were going exploring. As they approached the cave, Toni clutched Derek's hand tightly and said, "Let's go in there!" So they did. The four teenagers- using only their mobile phones for light- headed into the cave. Naturally, they'd gotten lost. They had no idea which way was out, their phones had no service and were running low on battery, just like any classic horror film. They stayed in the cave, scared and cold, in complete darkness, until the sun rose. They found their way out easily, following the light, back to the beach. Since then, Penny had never been as scared._

Moving on, I found myself facing a giant silo, made of rusted red metal. I placed a hand upon it and was surprised to feel that the metal was hot- so hot I had to draw my hand away. I moved around it, my eyes searching for a note. There was none, and I was a little downhearted. So I headed on to the next location, which was just down the dark path.

Ahead of me, I spotted something that seemed ominous and made the hair on the back of my neck stand. There were pillars, three rows of three, just lined up in a clearing in the forest. _What the hell is up with this place?_ My mind screamed as I approached them, _again_ the wind picked up and shivers were sent down my spine. Looking around, I searched with an almost desperate feeling for the next note. Then I spotted it- Stuck to the middle pole, flapping in the cold wind. Upon it was not words, but a drawing- a drawing of a faceless, slender man in a black suit, surrounded by rather simplistic evergreen trees. Once more the strange smell filled my nostrils. I folded the note and placed it in my bag with the other two. _Three notes… This is easy._

Irma Foreman didn't play nice. Irma Foreman never played nice. She was mean, she was cruel, and vindictive. She cheated in games, she cheated on boys and she cheated on her friends. She especially liked to bully one girl in particular. A little, lonely girl who only had one friend- Only problem was her friend was always sick, and this left poor little Penny Goodsir on her own. Irma would torment Penny relentlessly, throwing things at her, whether they were just names, or solid objects. On Penny's sixteenth birthday, Irma Foreman was hit by a car, and she died.

The wind seemed to be getting more and more brutal with every step I took, and every minute that went by. I found myself wandering around aimlessly, seeming to forget what I was looking for. Like someone- Or something- Didn't want me to find the notes.

Stop it, Penny. You're being an idiot. Just find the damn notes and get out of there. It felt like I was wandering around for hours before I came across a broken down truck and a container with a door in the side. I walked up, but as I was within meters of it, my torch flickered off once more. I banged it against my hand and it turned on, illuminating the area before me again.

I yelped; I had seen something out of the corner of my eye, but upon looking around, I spotted nothing. But the smell- Oh the smell. Disgusting, and it filled my nostrils and the air around me. It was almost toxic. The whole placed stunk of burning hair, meat and rubber. I gagged and coughed, then covered my mouth and nose as I began searching for another note. Looking around the container, I found nothing. So I tried the door.

In an arrested silence, we plead to our insane god- and their voices in our heads, like the silence in the woods, to stop appeasing man and his cruel culture of economic global domination. The balance remains between that which is sought by the few; Peace- and that which is sought out by most; Profit.

The door was locked from the inside, and there was no way I was going to be able to open it. I headed to the truck instead. Instantly I spotted the note stuck with that invisible force, to the back of the pickup truck's trailer. Pulling it from the truck, I read the words upon it out loud, "Don't look, or it takes you." My voice didn't sound right. It sounded slightly off-key, deeper, and it echoed through the trees. The wind battered me from all sides as I placed the folded note in my bag. Only four left.

I felt shaky as I continued wandering. I covered my ears- The forest is so LOUD! The wind, the trees, the leaves, my footsteps, and worst of all the noises, the whispers. Tiny voices, travelling through the forest and into my ears. What they were saying made no sense. Just rambling rubbish, and single words. Words like pain, suffocating, but the one that really put me on edge, Slenderman. Over and over again, just Slenderman. I was getting paranoid, looking around me for a solution to the voices, but there was nothing but those fucking trees.

In what seemed like hours, I finally found myself at an actual structure- It looked like a brick X, in the middle of a clearing. As I walked around it, I kept my eyes peeled for notes.

From somewhere behind me, I heard a voice. "Slenderman." I turned fast on my heels, gasping sharply. I searched for the source of the voice, and I found it.

Standing half around the corner of the brick wall, was the figure from one of the notes. He was tall- Too tall to be a human. He was pale white, and faceless. He wore a black, crisp suit, and he was motionless. I would say he was staring at me- But he had no eyes.

August, 1856. Something's off in the fields! Many farmers are awakening to find their cattle in a horrific state. Not dead- But something worse. "I came out to check my cows, to find them all on the grass. I thought they were just sleeping, but it seemed odd that none of them looked up when I called out. So I jumped the fence and ran to the closet cow. I could smell something funny in the air, a bit like burning tires and hair. As a came up to the cow, I could see blood. When I leant down to get a closer look, I saw that the cows eyes were missing. They had been plucked from the sockets, and the cows face was scratched up and all bloody looking. Then it raised its poor head, and it's moo was desperate and saddening, like it was asking to be killed."

I screamed and the torch turned off. Pleading for my life, I banged the torch against my hand and when it turned on, I shone it towards where the creature had been. There was nothing there. Panting, I turned and sped up, only stopping when I saw a note. I raced up to it and tore it away from the brick wall. It read, Help Me. I stuffed in my bag and continued walking, constantly looking behind me. I was terrified- I'd never been so scared before. My heart was pounding, my head was racing, the hair on the back of my neck stood up and I was getting shivers all down my spine. I swore I could feel someone watching me.

Thankfully, I can across a giant pipe, a potential place to find another note- Each note bringing me closer to being able to leave. I walked down the pipe, and my footsteps were amplified in the hollow space. It was easy to spot the note at the edge of the pipe, right on the other end. I ran towards it, and grabbed it, only just seeing the picture on it. The Slenderman, a few more simplistically drawn evergreens, and the word FOLLOWS. I glanced around me, and there he was. Standing at the other end of the tunnel. Pain shot through my head upon looking at him, and a static noise filled my ears. Don't look, or it takes you. I turned around fast and legged it away from the pipe as fast as I could.

My next destination was not too far ahead- it seemed closer than everything else. It was a group of rocks, piled up side by side. I wasn't sure if it was man-made or natural. Whatever it was, I wasn't getting good vibes from it. Then again, this whole forest was starting to seemed pretty messed up. You only have two notes left, Penny. Keep going. You can go home soon.

The rocks held nothing, no note at all, so I continued on walking through the forest. I'd lost track of time, all I knew was the darkness. I couldn't feel anything anymore, so the cold was no longer a problem. It felt like hours of aimless wandering before I reached some tanks, all lined up. Beyond it, I could see a building, with lights. It gave me hope, and I searched the tanks, eager to get a note and carry on to the building.

I felt triumph as I found a note on one of the tanks. I was almost accustomed to the foul stench by this point, and I'd not seen the Slenderman for a while. Things were looking up. YOU CAN'T RUN, the note said. I found myself laughing aloud. I strutted with confidence to the building, but when I opened the door and stepped inside, I realised this was not what it seemed. The lights were dim, flickering and old. It looked like a toilet block, and there were smashed tiles on the walls and on the floor. It looked like it had been abandoned for the past ten years. The whole place was filled with the stench of burning hair, rubber and meat. I continued on, admittedly frightened once more.

Again, I could feel eyes on me. I was being watched, I knew I was. The paranoia set in again, shivers, heavy breathing, a pounding heart, and again, those bloody whispers. Slenderman, Slenderman, Slenderman, Slenderman, Slenderman…

I felt my phone buzz all of a sudden, and I realised I was getting a call. That's odd… I have no service, how could I be getting a call? I answered, to hear Toni's voice, "Penny! Where the hell are you?" She asked me. I smiled, "I'm in the forest. Searching for those notes, just like you asked."

"What…? Don't kid with me, Penny. Where are you?"

"I'm in the forest."

"What on earth are you doing in the forest? And what's that noise?"

"What noise? You mean the wind?"

"No, the static-"

The line went dead, and I swore, pocketing my phone. I heard the static then, loud as ever. I turned around and shone my torch into a room, where it illuminated a well-placed note. I smiled, last one!

I took three large strides over to it, the static still strong in my ears.

As I took the note, the static went dead, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I turned around, to get out of that hell hole of a paddock, back to civilisation, and to accuse Toni of lying. Because I know she told me to go to the paddock. Who else could have…?

Suddenly, there was the static, loud and clear, and the last thing I saw was a white, featureless face staring me down, before it all went black…


End file.
